On Epiphany Sunday, The Independent did its part to stir up
controversy in the Church of England with a story on a statement by the
Archbishop of Kenya which supposedly opposes gay celibate bishops. Shame they chose to save ink by
omitting what the statement clearly addressed – clergy in Civil Partnerships being eligible for bishoprics.
Judge for yourself.
Here is the statement in full (Emphasis is mine.):
As we
enter the season of Epiphany we rejoice in the splendour of the light that has
dawned upon us in the appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Yet it
is a great sadness that before the New Year has hardly begun, the life of the
Anglican Communion has yet again been clouded by compromise with the secular
preoccupations of the West.
The decision by the Church of England’s House of Bishops, just
announced, that clergy in Civil Partnerships can be eligible to serve as
bishops will
create further confusion about Anglican moral teaching and make restoring unity
to the Communion an even greater challenge.
The provisions of the UK’s Civil Partnership legislation mimic marriage
for same sex couples and are clearly designed on the assumption that such
couples are sexually active. While it is true that the House of Bishops require
bishops with Civil Partners to be celibate, this proviso is clearly unworkable. It is common knowledge that active homosexuality on
the part of Church of England clergy is invariably overlooked and in such
circumstances it is very difficult to imagine anyone being brought to book.
However,
the heart of the matter is not enforceability, but that bishops have a
particular responsibility to be examples of godly living. It cannot be right that they are able to enter into legally recognised
relationships which institutionalise and condone behaviour that is completely
contrary to the clear and historic teaching of Scripture, as reaffirmed for
Anglicans by the 1998 Lambeth Conference in its Resolution 1.10.
The weight
of this moral teaching cannot be supported by a flimsy proviso. In his teaching
about marriage, Jesus reaffirms that marriage is the coming together of a man
and a woman in accordance with the pattern of creation itself when he says
‘from the beginning of creation God made them male and female’ (Mark 10:6). For
the health and well being of both church and society we must promote this great
God given gift of marriage without compromise and ambiguity.
The Most
Rev’d Dr Eliud Wabukala
Archbishop,
Anglican Church of Kenya and Chairman, GAFCON Primates Council.
Epiphany
Sunday 2013
Abp. Eliud’s statement does not directly address the
situation of a gay cleric who leads a single celibate lifestyle, including not being in a civil partnership,
although it can be interpreted as being fine with that. The statement does clearly address the
eligibility for bishoprics of those in civil partnerships, and rightly so
methinks.
But God forbid that The Independent should pass up an excuse
to paint orthodox Christians as mean and narrow-minded.
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